Changes to ‘Fit Notes’, what it could mean and what employers can do.

In a speech at the The Centre for Social Justice, the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, has announced plans to reform the system of issuing fit notes to clamp down on the number of people signed off work due to ill health.  The claim is that being off sick is a lifestyle choice for some workers, choosing not to go to work and work the benefit system instead.

There has been an increase of 850,000 people who have become economically inactive (currently 11 million people), that is people who are not in work and not looking for work.  This has a direct impact on the number of people in the available pool of workers available to employers and a recognised contributor to a competitive marketplace.  Sunak’s administration plans on making access to disability support more challenging in a bid to force more people back to work.

To address what is referred to a “sick note culture”, Sunak also plans to make changes to the fit note system.  At present 11 million fit notes are issued each year, 94% of them to support unfit to work claims.  The suggestion seems to be that fit notes will no longer be issued by GPs and the responsibility will shift to “work and health professionals” although there is no detail on who this might be or how access to such a professional would work.  The premise of the shift is that GPS are not impartial and will be more likely to provide a fit note to preserve the relationship with the patient than to refuse a fit note.

What possible implications are there for employers?

Could employers become more proactive in recognising symptoms of ill health, in particular mental health difficulties and take steps to try to avoid absence?

The causes of absence from work are increasing related to mental health difficulties, particularly in younger people and with early intervention, it may be possible to avoid absence from work.  This would require managers and colleagues to recognise when someone is feeling low or behaving differently and feel able to offer some form of support.  This can happen when managers and colleagues are training in mental health awareness and have the skills and knowledge to recognise symptoms and techniques to open up a conversation, become a listening ear and signpost the individual to help if appropriate.

Employers can also create space and give permission for conversations to happen which can led to the early recognition of problems and challenges that an individual may be facing which ultimately can prevent absence, keep someone at work or perhaps offer some reasonable adjustments that make a real difference.

A well being strategy that empowers mental health awareness for all, encouragement for openness and embraces support, reasonable adjustment and tolerance can prevent absence.

There is concern that these suggested changes may make access to fit notes more difficult for some, disadvantaging some groups and hindering the process of managing sick absence.  Time will tell what provisions are made and how this will impact employers in practice.  In the meantime, we advocate having a Managing Attendance at work policy which has clear provisions for actions to be taken in the event of absence from work and enables absence to be managed as a matter of course.  In addition, we recommend that managers are trained to handle return to work meetings, ensuring that they discharge their duty of care to employees, checking that people are fit to be back at work, taking on board any reasonable adjustments that need to be made and noting the frequency and pattern of absence with the individual.  This can prevent occurrence of short term absences, allow the individual to be supported where necessary and help to identify any underlying problems or issues that may be causing or exacerbating non attendance at work or in the workplace.

An appropriate Attendance at work policy which is accessible, actively managed will prevent “duvet days”, create a supportive culture which is consistent and inclusive to everyone reducing sick absence and minimising the risk of discriminatory action.

There is an increase in the number of people who become economically inactive, very often after a period of long-term sick absence.  These situations can be sensitive and difficult to manage.  Sometimes employers don’t know where to start, what (if any) action they can take, what they can say or not and how to avoid discrimination claims.  Whilst the employee is off sick their role remains unfilled, they may be a continuing cost to the employer and there is a level of uncertainty on whether the employee will or will not come back, whether they will be productive or not if they do come back and colleagues will be watching and waiting to see how this situation is managed (or not).

There are steps that can be taken to manage long term sick absence, building an appropriate strategy, getting professional advice upon which to make decisions and impartial support to navigate the process can take the pain out of long term sick absence management.

If one or more of these scenarios resonates with you, reach out to the Gravitate HR team as we have strategies and tools that can help you to reduce sick absence in your workplace.

To arrange a FREE call with one of our team who can talk you through this, visit: https://meetings.hubspot.com/neil256